Bang-bang at the Bada Bing: jury told of strip club shooting

Just seconds after two men crossed paths during a scuffle in Bada Bing, a Kings Cross strip club, one was shot in the shoulder, a jury has been told.

Ricky Anthony Ciano, 31, has pleaded not guilty to wounding Amer Tashman with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and using a pistol without a licence over the shooting inside the club on the morning of April 9 last year.

Shot in the shoulder ... the Bada Bing strip club in Kings Cross.Credit:Peter Rae

Mr Ciano's defence barrister, Graham Turnbull, SC, told Downing District Court on Tuesday that his client was not the shooter.

The shooting was captured by a surveillance camera, but the jury was told that investigators have not been able to establish why it occurred.

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"There's nothing in the video which indicates [Mr Tashman] is preparing to get himself involved in a fight," prosecutor Michael Barr said.

"There's nothing which shows any anger. He's with other people and it appears normal.

"There's nothing ... which shows that the accused is preparing to do anything such as what happened. There's no suggestion he's angry, there's no suggestion he's doing anything other than having a good night."

But a group fight broke out and about 25 seconds after Mr Tashman was seen walking in Mr Ciano's direction, he was shot, Mr Barr said.

"You will make out the accused appearing to reach into the front of his trousers and appearing to remove something, although you won't be able to see what he's ... removing.," Mr Barr said.

"In his right hand [it] looks as if he was hiding something, which the Crown says is the pistol.

"Then he walks to the area where Mr Tashman is and he looks like he's trying to move somebody aside with his left hand. It's at this stage that the Crown says Mr Tashman was shot."

Mr Ciano is then seen to run down emergency stairs and leave the club, Mr Barr said.

Mr Turnbull said the issue was whether Mr Ciano was the shooter.

The jury will hear that Mr Tashman was very drunk at the time and did not even realise he had been shot in the left shoulder, Mr Turnbull said.

He said the CCTV footage shows a group of people in a scuffle, but the camera does not focus entirely on that part of the club.

"Your job is not to jump to conclusions," Mr Turnbull told the jury.

"Your job is to look at the whole evidence. [Mr Ciano] was very well-known in that place ... there's no issue about that at all.